1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed towards a system for controlling and providing precision winding of delicate fibers, such as optical fibers, onto long rods or mandrels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The wrapping of relatively short rods or mandrels (under 6 feet) has been accomplished by prior art devices. Such devices typically rotate the rod while the fiber is made to traverse the length of the rod.
The known devices are limited to wrapping only such relatively short rods, however, due to the inherent flexibility or "sag" of the rods. Rods longer than 6 feet generally exhibit significant "sag" which results in a filament winding that is inaccurate in both tension uniformity and spatial placement on the rod. Therefore, only relatively short rods may be wrapped with any precision utilizing the known devices.
Several applications, such as for fiber optic hydrophones, require that very thin fiber optic filaments be precisely wound with an accuracy of +/-0.1 mm with light tensioning in the range of 0 to 500 grams (with +/-5 grams resolution) on very long rods (over 10 feet). Light tensioning is required to control the amount of stretch in the fiber, and to prevent unraveling of the filament on the spool when the machine is stopped. Currently, a system to provide such results is not known.